


So What if I Threw a Party? (And All My Friends Were There)

by firelord_zutara



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fluff, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 14:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4832594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firelord_zutara/pseuds/firelord_zutara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Tony gets drunk and may or may not have misplaced his pants.  Based on a true story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So What if I Threw a Party? (And All My Friends Were There)

**Author's Note:**

> This happened to my brother at college (minus the romance and child genius). College is weird.

It’s not that Steve didn’t _like partying_. He didn’t really have an opinion either way. He’d gone to a few once he’d buffed up and made varsity football, but he didn’t really understand all the hype that led up to one. So once Bucky announced that the whole floor was throwing a rager the weekend he was supposed to visit back home, he didn’t feel the need to change his plans.

“C’mon Steve! It’s gonna be fucking awesome, Tony _Stark_ is gonna be here.”

Steve didn’t pause from packing his small duffle bag, he just merely asked, “who?”

At Bucky’s silence, however, Steve had to look up. His friend was staring at him, wide eyed and jaw slacked. Steve rolled his eyes, and turned back to the pair of jeans he was currently folding.

“How do you not know who Stark is? He’s like, the youngest kid ever to get into MIT, he’s 17 and he’s working on his doctorate!”

Okay, well that was really impressive, Steve had to admit But, still. He had plans. “I’m still not staying. I already told Ma I was coming back. I got a bus ticket and everything.”

“Lame.”

“Yup.”

Just as Bucky flopped back onto his bed, the door to their shared dorm burst open, two of their smiling friends waltzing in. 

“Hey Steve!” Clint greeted, nearly crushing Bucky as he flopped onto the bed, with Bucky letting out a very indignant squack. “You ready for tonight?”

Steve opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Sam’s eyes fell onto his nearly packed duffle. “Jesus, are you seriously skipping out on us? Do you know who’s coming?”

“I--”

“He doesn’t even know who Stark is!” Bucky whined, shoving Clint aside as he rearranged himself. The other two men let out a horrified gasp, but Steve merely narrowed his eyes.

“I told my Ma I was coming home! I already--”

 

“Bought the bus ticket, I _know,_ can’t you, like, get a refund?”

“No.”

“Did you check?”

Well, to be fair he didn’t, but he didn’t want a refund because frankly, he missed New York, and he missed his Ma. It was only his freshman year, and Boston definitely wasn’t Brooklyn. Sure, it had all the anger and madness of a big city, the packed streets and bustling sidewalks, but it just wasn’t the same. 

“I don’t care, I’m not going. Besides, I don’t want my scholarship revoked because I get caught drinking.”

“And drugs!” Clint added, with a giddy grin. “Definitely drugs too.”

“It doesn't matter,” Sam started, “the DA doesn’t give a shit, he’s like, Stark’s best friend.”

Steve frowned. “James, really?”

“God, you’re, like, the only one who calls him James.”

Steve ignored his best friend, choosing instead to throw his duffle over the shoulder, snagging his bus ticket from his desk. “Well, this has been _great_ fun, but I have to head to South Station. Like, now.”

Before he could make it out the door, Clint grasped onto his shoulders, his eyes wild and somewhat frightening. “Steve, seriously! Call your mom, don’t get on that smelly Peter Pan bus, and stay. You’ll totally regret it if you don’t come.”

“I don’t think I will,” Steve huffed, and walked out.

\-----

Steve didn’t regret leaving, but it was clear that he’d definitely missed something. It was early Monday morning when Steve returned to Boston University. He’d managed to catch the earliest bus, and taken the T right to campus. So when he’d reached his floor that morning, he wouldn’t be surprised if the flyer he was gaping at was just a figment of his sleep deprived state.

 _Have you seen my pants?_ It read, complete with a picture of just that, a pair of plain dark pants. _If found, please return to room 211. Reward: $10,000._

Steve thought that it had to be some stupid joke, that no one would dish out that much money for some ratty jeans - until he read the name scratched out at the bottom of the sheet. _Tony Stark._ Well. A billionaire could definitely throw around $10,000 like it was nothing. 

Mind still pondering how someone, no less a genius, could lose their pants at some party, Steve unlocked his dorm room, walking in at exactly 10:07 AM. 

Steve didn’t have any classes till 2, but Steve know that Bucky had Lit 101 at 10:15 and he also knew that if he missed the class one more time, Bucky would fail the semester, despite it only being October.

Throwing his bag across the room, Steve began to shake Bucky, in a somewhat desperate attempt to wake his friend

“Bucky. Bucky! You’re going to fail English if you don’t get up! Bucky, you’re a freshman and you’re going to fail English, get _up!”_

Gasping slightly, the man’s eyes snapped open, shouting as he rolled over, falling onto the floor in a heap of blankets and old food wrappers. 

“You’re disgusting, Buck.”

“Shut up, I’m gonna be fucking late!” 

And with that, Bucky snatched his own bag from his bedside, fumbling to pull his jeans on as he ran out the door. 

Steve was about to shut it behind him, but he paused, a voice from down the hall catching his ear. 

“Hey! Hey, were you--oh, well _hello_ there, muscles.”

Steve tried to suppress the blood rushing to his cheeks, but it was to no avail. The owner of said voice was now face to face with Steve, strewn casually within his doorway. His brown hair was mussed up, as if he’d just rolled out of bed, complete with stubble lining his chin. As his eyes fell from the stranger’s face, he saw that he was sporting a worn MIT shirt that clung loosely from his shoulders. Oh, and his _smirk,_ it was positively deadly. Jesus.

“Yes?”

“You weren’t the party this weekend were you?” The man’s grin was absolutely shit eating now, curling mischievously at the corners as his eyes shone impossibly brighter. “I’d say I wouldn’t forget a face like that, but really, I think it’s those arms that I wouldn’t forget. What was it? Football, wrestling? Maybe baseball?”

“It was football, back in high school,” Steve swallowed, hoping his face wasn’t as red as it felt. He’d received many lewd compliments in the past and usually he could deal with if fine, but something about the man’s snarky lips and blazing eyes made Steve feel like a scrawny high school freshman all over again. 

 

“As much I’d like to stand here and admire you’re astronomical physique, I’m on mission.”

“A mission.” 

The man’s eyes crinkled, cocking his head slightly at Steve. “Yes. For my pants.”

Ah, so this was the famous Tony Stark. That, well...that explained a lot, actually.

“I haven’t seen your pants, I was out of town.”

Tony nodded, as if he wasn’t expecting anything different. And really, it shouldn’t have, because why the hell would Steve have his pants? “Ah, well, when your roommate comes back, you mind asking him? If you do so happen to have them, just give them to Rhodey, okay?”

Steve nodded, not sure what else to say. That seemed to be good enough for Tony, however, for the kid simply stared at him a moment longer, still smirking, then dashed down the hall without another word.

Mind racing, he collapsed onto his bed, rubbing his hands through his hair. College was weird.

\-----

College is weird? Yup. The understatement of understatements. Really.

It was one week since the odd encounter with Tony Stark, when Steve was cleaning up his side of his shared dorm. As he was digging through a pile of laundry, however, he came across a pair of pants that definitely wasn’t his. 

Holding them up, he turned to Bucky, who was currently watching Netflix on his Macbook. “Buck, are these yours?”

“Nope,” Bucky replied, not looking away from the screen. As he rolled his eyes, Steve was about to throw them into his hamper, when he felt a lump in one of the pockets. Reaching in, he pulled out a wallet, a phone, and a key, complete with an MIT keychain.

Oh, shit.

Wincing slightly, he opened up the wallet, and as he’d expected he found Tony Stark staring back at him atop a Massachusetts driver’s license. 

God, even in his license photo he was radiating snarky confidence. 

 

Slowly, he grabbed the pants and the contents he’d found inside, getting to his feet and walking out the door. Slowly, he knocked on door 211, and was greeted by his DA.

“Hey, Steve right? You need something?” 

“I, uh, think I have something that belongs to your friend.”

Rhodey eyed the contents in his hands, sighing as he moved to let Steve in. “Tones, you got a visitor.”

Tony, who was sitting cross-legged on Rhodey’s bed as he slurped a cup of noodles, widened his eyes as Steve walked into the room. “Captain Muscles!” he exclaimed, setting the cup down as he hopped up the bed, approaching Steve with that same, devious smirk. “Now, how did you end up with my pants?”

Steve narrowed his eyes, but once he saw that Tony was merely curious and somewhat amused and _not_ accusing him, he relaxed his shoulders. “They were just in my room, I have no idea how you managed to lose your pants in my room.”

From behind him, Rhodey snickered. Tony’s smirk grew. “I’d say I know why, but you weren’t there that night, so my theory is moot.”

Steve blushed, fumbling to form a disapproving glare on his face. Tony chuckled, snatching the items from Steve’s hands. “Anyway, 10 big ones right? I think that’s what I promised, but honestly I can’t remember. Sounds fair though, no?”

“I, uh, don’t need your money. I didn’t do anything, I was just cleaning my room, and--”

Tony shook his head, holding up his hand as to cut him off. “Do you know how hard it is to get an official fake ID? This license was printed at a DMV and it’s total bullshit. You know how much I had to pay to get this?”

Steve blinked. He hadn’t checked the age on the thing, but he supposed that yeah, Tony would have a fake ID, if he was only 17. “Really, I can’t take that much from you.”

“Yes you can,” Rhodey sighed. “God knows he doesn't need it.”

“Really, I--”

“Then how about a date?”

“A what?”

“A date,” Tony stated, stepping even closer to him now, one finger digging into his chest. “You, me, good food, good times.” 

Before Steve could filter through his thoughts, his lips were already moving. “I thought I was getting a reward, not a punishment.”

Rhodey cackled. Steve smirked. Tony sputtered.

“You should be as lucky to go on a date with me, you asshole!”

Two weeks later, Tony’s pants were strewn across Steve’s floor again. There were no objections.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! Song title is from Going Out in Style - Dropkick Murphys


End file.
